2. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseed meal; and sesame seeds on a large baking sheet. Bake about 10 minutes or until everything is lightly toasted, stir after 5 minutes. Pour the oat mix in a large bowl. Add cereal and cranberries; toss to combine.

4. Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon thoroughly and quickly. Spread into the prepared pan. Press the mixture down evenly over the pan using hands or wooden spoon or hard spatula. Refrigerate (30 minutes) or let cool until firm (1 hr) cut into 24 bars.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Carob is used as a substitute for cocoa or chocolate for people who are sensitive to chocolate. Carob, which is also known as locust bean gum, has more fiber and calcium but fewer calories than cocoa. Carob does not contain caffeine or any stimulants. Carob comes from the dried pods of the carob tree, whereas cocoa comes from the cacao tree.

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Spray a 9-inch baking pan with oil spray. Set aside. Combine the dry ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix. If the carob is lumpy, sift the mixture after shaking it.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the wet ingredients using a hand mixer .

Fold in the dry ingredients using a spatula. Stir in the hot water until blended. Add the nuts, if desired.

4. Pour into prepared pan. Bake approximately 20 to 25 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.
5. Cool for 15 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar or leave plain. Cut into 16 bars. Store any leftovers in refrigerator, wrapped in cellophane.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Black bean brownies are today’s brownie buzz. I responded to a question on MixingBowl.com today about making a black bean brownie with no flour using agave nectar. A Mixer had tried one that was best described as unsweetened and awful tasting.

I took on the challenge to try to make the brownie. Some of the question that arose are:

How does agave measure in sweetness to sugar?

Are all agave nectars the same in sweetness?

Is there really a fool proof measurement cup for cup to sugar?

Should a baked dessert use all agave nectar as the sweetener?

I gathered my ingredients as follows:

Can of black beans

Cinnamon

Ginger

Cayenne pepper

Vanilla powder

Rum flavoring

Brown sugar

Cornstarch

Butter

Unsweetened chocolate

Chocolate syrup

Egg

I wasn’t sure if I would use all of the flavorings or the cornstarch, but wanted to have it handy.

Add the Chocolate mix to the food processer and pulse until blended. Add egg and pulse until blended. Stir in nuts.

Pour into a greased 9x9 cake pan.

Bake at 325 F for approximately 30 minutes. Check for doneness with toothpick

Let cool completely before cutting.

Servings: 20

Some bakers recommend baking goods containing agave nectar at a lower temperature. Oven temperature was reduced to 325 F for this recipe.

Notes:

One tablespoon of cornstarch was added to guarantee that the brownie would not be too brittle. It possibly could be omitted, if all agave nectar is not used.

I do not recommend using all agave nectar in a recipe. The taste does not match the ‘sugar’ taste most of us are familiar with.

To reduce calories, try 1/3 non-calorie sweetener, 1/3 granulated sugar and 1/4 agave nectar. This will be my next version of this brownie.

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)

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Calories: 111

Total Fat: 3g

Cholesterol: 13.6mg

Sodium: 68.2mg

Potassium: 77.4mg

Carbohydrates: 6.5g

Fiber: 1.8g

Sugar: 14.6g

Protein: 1.9g

My rating: Could be sweeter, 3 of 5 points I have since modified my recommendation of this one. After sitting overnight on the counter, the flavors melded a bit and it appeared sweeter. I will make it again and double the cinnamon.

This is one of my usual black brownies modified to substitute one-half of sugar with agave nectar.

Rinse and drain beans until water runs clear. Blend beans, ginger and egg in food processor until smooth.

Melt chocolate, vanilla powder, cinnamon, cayenne,sugar, agave nectar and butter in a microwave safe bowl or pot on stove top until starting to melt. Remove from heat. Do not over heat. Stir until fully blended and smooth. Set aside.

Pour bean puree into a large bowl. Fold in chocolate mix until blended, fold in flour until combined.

Stir in nuts. Pour mixture into pan. Bake 20-22 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Cut into 20 bars. forgot to stir in nuts, so sprinkled on top and pressed in

Monday, March 1, 2010

About 6 apples were sitting in the refrigerator bin waiting for me to do something with them. Originally, I bought them with the intent of eating fresh apples. Finally, I started looking at recipes trying to get an idea of what to do with them. A few days passed and still no light bulb. I peeled, cored, sliced and rinsed them with lemon juice. As I was about to return them to the refrigerator in their new state, a little voice said ‘why are you putting them back in the refrigerator?” “Didn’t you take them out to make something with them?”

Well, I decided to listen to that little voice, of course I chose not to answer it verbally, because I was afraid it may decide to become an alter ego and that is another topic for conversation.

I put them in a pot with about a cup of sugar, another tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of cinnamon. They were on a low simmer, so I left the room and forgot that they were on the stove.

About 2 hours later, I began to smell a nice cinnamon fragrance that made me hungry. I walked back into the kitchen and there was the forgotten pot of apples cooked into a golden brown color. I decided to taste them and they were delicious. Finally I decided that I would make some type of apple cake with them. I did not want the normal sweet apple cake, so I decided to use a bread type flour mix and add some sugar to it. The final result was an Apple Coffee Cake.

The batter will look similar to dough batter. You will need spatula and fork to spread it over the pan

Dollop about half of the batter into the pan. use a spatula to spread it out. Dollop the apples over the dough, spread out about evenly. dollop the remaining batter over the apple mix. Use a fork to spread it around leaving some open areas. Make sure the batter is not any thicker in any areas than others.

Sprinkle the Turbinado sugar evenly over the top

Bake for about 35 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Edges will be browned before top browns

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About Me

I am retired AND I am severely gluten-sensitive.
I retired July 31, 2009 after almost 30 years in Information Technology.
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After discovering that I cannot eat anything containing wheat-gluten in 2006, I am learning new ways to make meals. Whole grains are now a part of my food list more than ever before.
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Baking has always been enjoyable to me. I am really enjoying converting or creating new gluten free goodies. Gluten free baking ingredients can be very expensive. Some cost cutting can be achieved by grinding your own nut flours as needed because they tend to be used less than others. My new goal is to compile an illustrated gluten-free cookbook.
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I hope to also show that not all gluten-intolerant people are under-weight, young or of obvious European Descent. There are many of us ‘baby boomers’ ‘senior citizens’ ‘over-weight’ or ‘old people’ who have severe reactions to gluten!
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Hopefully diagnosis will be made earlier so that no one suffers the related auto-immune diseases that seem to follow pattern from non-absorption of necessary nutrients.